Promoting Development of Teachers and Students in STEM

Demos, a New York-based policy and advocacy organization, and The New York Academy of Sciences have concluded a study suggesting solutions to one of the most often-cited reasons for the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) achievement gap - a lack of skilled and trained teachers in the STEM fields. The greatest percentage of under-qualified teachers at the K-12 level is found in STEM disciplines – 40 percent of high school math teachers and 20 percent of science teachers in high needs areas lack a higher education degree in the subject they instruct.  The recruitment of highly qualified teachers into the STEM teaching workforce has received a tremendous amount of attention in the past few years – perhaps driven by the fact that math and science teacher turnover has increased by 33 percent over the past two decades.

California

The report discusses what teachers, administrators, educational leaders and interested citizens can do to improve teacher retention by encouraging and improving opportunities for collaboration, support, respect, openness, and commitment to student achievement and professional development within schools.  The report highlights Professional Learning Communities (PLC). A three-year longitudinal study of more than 300 teachers who participated in PLCs as part of the California Science Project Teacher Retention Initiative found that “Relevance of professional development, perceived classroom effectiveness, and identifying as part of a CSP-TRI professional learning community” were all predictors of classroom retention.

Connecticut

Earlier this year, Connecticut Public Radio’s program Where We Live focused a week-long series on STEM education in Connecticut, promoted this way:  “Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM): Connecticut’s strengths? Many of the state’s employers don’t think so anymore.”  In Connecticut,  an estimated 1,000 manufacturing jobs remain unfilled because applicants lack the skills they need.   Many middle and high school students seem to lose interest in studying STEM subjects.  The Alliance for Science and Technology in America reports that Connecticut will need to fill 232,000 STEM jobs by 2018.

Federal Support

Earlier this year, at the second annual White House Science Fair, President Obama announced a new $80 million Department of Education competition to support STEM teacher preparation programs. The investment will support innovative programs, such as those that allow prospective teachers to simultaneously earn a STEM degree and a teaching certificate. Another $22 million from philanthropic and private sources, including the Carnegie Foundation, Google and Dell, will complement the administration's STEM effort.